WHITPAIN — Police are searching for a suspect who apparently used a fake bomb strapped to his person to rob the Giant Food Store on Dekalb Pike in Blue Bell just before midnight Tuesday.

According to police, a white male wearing a blue, hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and white sneakers demanded cash from an employee working a register at that hour.

The suspect reportedly revealed a makeshift device — resembling a homemade bomb — in his waistband. He told the cashier he would detonate it if the employee did not comply with his demands.

The suspect reportedly fled on foot with approximately $150.

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“We’re reviewing surveillance video from around the area and processing the device — which did not contain any explosive materials, but just appeared to be something that looked like it could (have),” said Whitpain Township Police Lt. Jeff Frank.

Police said the suspect then ditched the bogus bomb in the Giant store parking lot, where it was later recovered.

“It looked like household items wrapped in a lot of duct tape,” said Frank. “The sheriff’s department X-rayed it and determined it was not an explosive device.”

As of Monday afternoon, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad was still processing the apparatus, even after they cleared it of any explosive threat. Police have released no further information.

In addition to county sheriffs, police were assisted by personnel from the East Norriton Police Department, the Plymouth Township Police Department K-9 Unit, the Second Alarmers Rescue Squad and the Centre Square Fire Department – Fire Police.